A new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie shows that the US increased its solar module manufacturing capacity by 9.3 GW in Q3 2024. The total capacity now stands at almost 40 GW.
This record was achieved through five factories in Texas, Ohio, Alabama, and Florida – all either new or expanded upon.
These solar module factories are now almost able to fully meet domestic solar demand, as reported by the US Solar Market Insight Q4 2024 report.
SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper notes: “Federal solar policies and increased private investments are strengthening our nation’s energy security and creating thousands of new job opportunities for American workers.”
Furthering this point, Q3 saw a revival of silicon cell production in the US since 2019 – with American manufacturer Suniva opening its first US cell manufacturing plant.
The report also notes that the US installed 8.6 GW DC in Q3, which was a record for that quarter and up 21% year-on-year. There was a 44% rise on utility-scale installations from 2023, which reached 6.6GW, however this was down 16% from Q2’s figure.
Projections anticipate an added 40.5 GW to be installed in 2024, with this year also set to see a decline in installations – however this will likely only be by 2% following an anticipated 26% in residential installations.
Michelle Davis, Head of Solar Research at Wood Mackenzie, says: “Our current outlook for the next five years has the US solar industry growing 2% per year on average, reaching a cumulative total of nearly 450 GW by the end of 2029.”
The report notes that challenges to the US’ solar market still include labour shortages, equipment constraints, delays, and difficulties predicting potential policies from the US’ new federal government from January 2025.
